May 30, 2017, Overcast
"So you're telling me that the talented little fellow with mathematical skills even deeper than mine... is my little niece?!"
In the tea room of the Li Family Mansion, Li Jinglun looked at his old friend in disbelief, completely unaware that syrup from his sugar pancake had dripped onto his pants.
It wasn't until a moment later, when the heat between his legs caught his attention, that he snapped back to reality.
"What the heck! It's so hot!"
Lu Xin shook his head with a hint of helplessness and said, "I checked at the association last night. The person who took your copying job was Qingming, and she returned the silver note I lent you yesterday exactly as it was."
Li Jinglun looked at the silver note Lu Xin displayed and nodded, saying, "That's indeed the one I passed on to that little shorty."
Lu Xin stood up and gestured around his own forehead, "Is the little shorty you're talking about about this tall, and this size?"
Li Jinglun said, "Indeed, about as tall as you... But if I'd realized this earlier, I wouldn't have used the word 'shorty.'"
Lu Xin curled his lips, "It's alright. I know I'm never going to grow taller, and besides, I'm already married. Fengyun loves me, so I don't need to care about what others say. Anyway, it seems the mathematical expert you're so surprised by is indeed Qingming."
"But when did she learn such advanced mathematics?! Although she excelled in cultural subjects at the Inner Sect before, her mathematics was only grade A, right?"
Lu Xin said, "Exactly, which is why I pondered all night and felt that the only possibility is that the financial hardships of the past two years have made her become sharp in calculations."
Li Jinglun furrowed his brows, thought for a while, and said, "An interesting theory. Though it sounds absurd at first, maybe it explains why a bestselling author like me couldn't outsmart a 14-year-old girl—because she was more financially desperate than I was."
"Yes, neither of us has ever experienced poverty. Perhaps there's indeed a marvelous force hidden in it. What do you think?" Lu Xin hypothesized earnestly.
"Uh..." Li Jinglun didn't respond, only furrowing his brows more tightly.
"What's up, Thirteen?"
"I'm just thinking, if poverty does have this incredible force, then... perhaps Qingming has already lost it?"
Lu Xin raised her delicate eyebrows slightly, "What do you mean? She only got a not-so-much advance payment from you, and she soon spent it all—I had someone check her purchase records last night."
Li Jinglun said with some difficulty, "But just before I came here, I just paid her the second batch of contract fees..."
"The second batch?! How did a second batch happen?"
"Because after she borrowed money yesterday, she helped me proofread a batch of manuscripts, and then that night I sent them to the editor and received the manuscript fee—as a rare reward for early submission in my writing career."
Lu Xin was momentarily silent, slightly agape, "How much?"
"...Five thousand spirit stones. It was a big contract."
"Five thousand spirit stones!" Lu Xin stood up, "That means Qingming could get five hundred spirit stones? Do you have any idea what five hundred spirit stones mean to a child?! Before I was 14, my monthly allowance was only fifty spirit stones!"
Li Jinglun was taken aback, "I only had two spirit stones..."
"How could it be so little? Two spirit stones aren't even enough to buy a toy."
Li Jinglun pursed his lips, "That's why I had to leave Lingshan City to seek refuge with the family at Cyan Cloud... Anyway, Qingming has struck it rich."
Lu Xin said, "No, we can't let her manage a large amount of money like this. She's still young and will only suffer for it. Besides, she's been too lucky lately, which is likely unfavorable for her future development. I must find a way to get the money out of her hands."
Li Jinglun exclaimed, "Are you planning to take your daughter's money?"
"I'm not taking... Oh, I can charge her rent! Five thousand two a month is still too cheap. If she's so sentimental about the courtyard Shen Yue'e left her, she'll accept any high price I set! Like 500 spirit stones a month."
"You, this is robbery!"
Lu Xin added, "Thirteen, I'm doing this for her own good, she needs to understand the difficulty of earning money."
Li Jinglun looked at this noble lady, who had never known the taste of poverty, with eyes full of incredulity. After a long time, he said, "...I understand."
As they were talking, a figure appeared at the entrance of the tea room, tall but weathered, it was Li Fengyun, the Patriarch of the Li Family.
"Oh, Xin'er, Thirteen, you're both here."
Lu Xin smiled, got up to fetch her husband's favorite tea leaves, and personally brewed a pot for him.
"Thank you." Li Fengyun nodded, "What are you guys talking about? I seem to have heard you mention the difficulty of earning money. Are you short of money recently?"
Lu Xin chuckled, half-annoyed, "Can we possibly be short of money?"
Li Fengyun said, "I see, if you were short, I could lend you some."
Li Jinglun was utterly shocked, "Big brother?"
Lu Xin was also shocked, "How do you have money?"
Li Jinglun quickly turned to Lu Xin, whose face reddened, "I still give him pocket money every month..."
Li Fengyun then said, "I just made a deal and earned three hundred spirit stones."
"Huh?" Lu Xin almost spilled tea on her feet.
This wooden-headed man who's solely focused on cultivation actually knows how to make money? And by doing business?! Oh my god, does he really know what doing business is about?
"It's simple, really. Buy low, sell high. Bought it for two hundred spirit stones, now selling it for five hundred. That's a profit of three hundred, isn't it?"
That doesn't sound problematic. Lu Xin chuckled while sipping tea, "Well, congratulations. But what exactly did you sell that you could earn more than double? Can't be that someone bought junk at a high price just because they like you, essentially gifting you money."
Li Fengyun said, "I sold the Shen Garden."
"Pfft!"
Lu Xin almost spat out blood.
"You sold the Shen Garden?! 500 spirit stones? Are you out of your mind! With the current property prices in Cyan Cloud City, 5000 spirit stones would be a giveaway! 200 spirit stones was the price during your ancestor's pioneering days... Wait, who did you sell it to? It can't be Li Qingming, right?"
"It's her." Li Fengyun said curiously, "Otherwise, I can't sell family property to outsiders."
"How could you sell it to her!" Lu Xin almost jumped, "Selling the courtyard to your own daughter, don't you find that weird?!"
Li Fengyun straightened up, "Now it's starting to feel strange. Why can't it be sold to Qingming? She offered money because she obviously needs the Shen Garden. The price she offered is very reasonable, giving me a profit too. Selling to her benefits both sides, what's so strange about it?"
"..." Lu Xin was at a loss for words, not knowing how to argue back.
After a mental struggle, Lu Xin slumped down dejectedly, "Alright, congratulations on your mutually beneficial deal."
"So, do you need to borrow money?" Li Fengyun looked at his wife expectantly.
"No need!"
——
On the other side, in the eastern part of Shen Garden, Li Qingming held a land deed as light as a cicada's wing, feeling somewhat lost.
"Ah, 500 spirit stones disappeared just like that, didn't even get to take a proper look. So this is what going bankrupt overnight feels like."
Wang Jiu objectively commented, "Given your financial situation, you've basically been in bankruptcy for the past two years, so I really don't understand what you're lamenting about."
Her artistic passion extinguished, Li Qingming snapped, "I'm not smart, so I tend to lament over trivial matters, is that okay!"
Wang Jiu said, "That's fine."
"..." Li Qingming gnawed her teeth in frustration. If it weren't for the fact that this white-bladed sword might have a body imperishable through countless tribulations, she'd definitely try to break it!
Ignoring Li Qingming's inexplicable sentimentality, Wang Jiu turned his attention back to the encyclopedia in front of him.
Though it was just something Li Qingming got for 2 silver from an old bookstore, as she claimed, it was indeed worth every penny.
The Xiangzhou Encyclopedia, published in 2001, though not truly all-encompassing, at least covered some of the historically recognized views of the Xiangzhou Academic Community.
For instance, Xiangzhou's history can be traced back 5,000 years, when the world was in turmoil, and people lived difficult lives. In times of crisis, the Seven Great Cultivation Families, allied with the Saint Sect and the Three Academies, swept through the world, establishing the lasting governance structure.
Interestingly, these so-called Seven Great Families were all enormous and influential during the Immortal Demon Wars in Jiuzhou.
Li Jiulong's Li Family, Shen Kaishan's Shen Family, Zhao Yuming's Zhao Family, Lu Jintong's Lu Family, Shang Lanfei's Shang Family, Feng You's Feng Family, and Rakugo's Luo Family... All descendants of the Jiu Immortal Venerables.
Among the Jiu Immortal Venerables, Jing Hong, born of Wild Fox Zen, had no attachments or descendants, and Zhu Junsen had no affinity with women, his Child's Skill power was earth-shattering over centuries, making his lack of successors logical.
In other words, the current ruling hierarchy of the Xiangzhou Continent is essentially the Saint Sect and the descendants of the Jiu Immortal Venerables from that time—the Three Academies are branches under the Saint Sect.
However, this brings up two issues.
First, what is the origin of the Saint Sect? The highest authority in Jiuzhou back then was the Myriad Immortals Alliance, but it was loosely structured. The actual rulers were still large families and sects like the Jiu Immortal Venerables. There was never this supposed Saint Sect above the families.
Second, according to the encyclopedia, the ancestors of the Seven Great Families... Wang Jiu recognized none of them. Ancestors of the Li Family, Li Feiliu? Ancestors of the Shen Family, Shen Lifen? Never heard of them!
From Jiuzhou to Xiangzhou, many things became uncertain during those years of slumber. Even the concept of immortal cultivation is now vastly different from before.
During the Jiuzhou era, cultivators sought immortality, defying fate. Back then, a Heaven Shattering Realm cultivator's lifespan often exceeded a thousand years, and with fortuitous encounters, it could multiply several times. Even a five-thousand-year-old turtle cultivator wasn't rare. But now, Xiangzhou cultivators have much shorter lifespans even in the same realms! Masters in the Sea Overturning Realm live only three to five hundred years, while even the Peak of the Mountain-Overturning Realm has merely over two hundred good years.
With immortal cultivation falling short of achieving immortality, these peculiar changes fostered today's unique cultivation ecology in Xiangzhou. Cultivators no longer retreat to secluded mountains for deep meditation, opting instead to live in groups, developing a highly flourishing cultivation culture...
Closing the book, Wang Jiu mused, "Much has been gained."
Li Qingming snorted, "Told you, it's worth every penny."
"Then here's a strange question. Why was the knowledge that cost only 2 silver beyond your explanation when I asked before?"
Li Qingming was immediately at a loss. Wang Jiu had asked her many questions about Xiangzhou's broad trends before, but she could only give general answers—the inner sect's cultural curriculum only taught so much, how much more could a 14-year-old girl know?
After a pause, Li Qingming said, "I focused on cultivation, no time for these miscellaneous studies."
"Focused on cultivation and only broke through the Wind Barrier at 14?"
"Fine, I'm untalented and a bit dumb, there, satisfied?"
"Satisfied."
"..."